What attracted you to international education?
Working on lesson planning
Like many who go into teaching English, it was the ‘International’ part of the equation that attracted me initially. I was looking for a way to live in other countries, allowing me to understand the culture better than travelling for a week’s holiday would ever do. It was the classic case of remembering a friend of a friend’s cousin who’d lived in the Canary Islands teaching English several years before that and wondering if that was something I could do too, not that I had any idea back then about teaching.
Why did you choose to live and work in Prague over all other international cities?
I only knew that I wanted to live somewhere other than the UK and came on a holiday to Prague. I immediately felt at home here and so came here for my first teaching job. Whilst I’ve taught in other places around the world, including 5 years in Barcelona, ultimately Prague was about the right size for me; big enough to have plenty going on, but small enough to get around (and to get out of for weekend trips).
What do you enjoy most about your job?
In both the teaching and the training, there is a great balance where you are helping people to achieve their personal goals; it’s always a two-way process in that I feel I learn as much from the supposed students as they learn from me. There’s an element of the familiar as you goin to teach a class you’ve done before, but it’s different every time. And there’s an element of lightness. You can have a lot of fun as you are constantly interacting with others in a setting quite different to a dentist or a bank clerk.
Doing feedback on classes
How have your travel experiences helped you in your current role?
To an extent. Understanding where people are coming from can be great in understanding how to help them. This ranges from knowing the typical problems a Spanish or Arabic speaker may have with the language, but also having an insight as to what the learner might be trying to say.
On the other hand, knowing nothing can be a great asset, too. When you arrive in a new place, there is an exciting dynamic where students are very keen to tell you about their town or country. There’s a real and motivated communication. Students aren’t coming to you to hear about your travels through 79 countries.
What makes Oxford TEFL unique?
Of all the schools I’ve worked for, either in teaching or in training, a key factor in why I’ve enjoyed working at OxfordTEFL is that the owners have a background in teaching and training. It means there’s an understanding from the top about what the school is trying to achieve and this has seen the school and staff develop alongside each other.
It’s important that students and trainees are happy to study here, but it’s also important that staff are happy to work here. The two things go hand in hand. The school has high standards and a respect for the profession, ensuring that staff are qualified and that the training courses we offer carry the highest accreditation there is.
Out with students in Prague
How does Oxford TEFL help graduates find meaningful TEFL jobs worldwide?
Trainees initial teacher training course is obviously just the first step and wouldn’t be a good idea, unless there is then the follow up to help trainees get into a job. We offer individual, and lifelong support to our graduates to help them not only get started, but also to help them develop their careers.
Having offered courses since 1998, we have a great network, not just in our centres, but worldwide. Many graduates of the Certificate level course will go on to do the Diploma and take up positions as Director of Studies in language schools, training and management. It means that the support offered goes beyond finding a regular English teaching job and into all areas of the field.
What does a typical day at work look like for you?
As the Course Director for the Trinity CertTESOL, a typical day starts working with trainees in fine tuning their lesson plans, perhaps rehearsing them and offering suggestions. Then we’ll do the Teaching Practice, where trainees are teaching real students and my role is to observe and then run feedback. I identifying the strengths of a teacher and options available for any challenging situations that may come up. The course is about teaching, so this is really the front end of what we do. In the afternoon, I might be running an input session on phonology, grammar, reading activities or whatever is timetabled that day. Or I might be marking projects (the least favorite part for my day).
I also have other work such as training on the Diploma (Master’s level course), working as a speaking examiner, or just regular teaching.
Tea plantations - taking a break from work in our Kerala centre
From working and living abroad, what advice can you give to students planning to get their TEFL certification abroad?
Make sure you talk to any centre you are considering taking a course with and ask lots of questions. Do try to get through to the actual course provider. A lot of websites are agencies who will charge a commission from the course provider so you may get it cheaper if you go direct.
Do plenty of research and read reviews, but stay critical when reading reviews. You can’t always believe what you read, but they can be a great place to identify the questions you want to ask in the interview...and there will always be an interview for any course that carries university accreditation. Courses are always advertised as ‘accredited’ and ‘internationally recognised’ so ask who the accrediting body is and make sure it’s from a university or the route to some employers (or even countries) will be blocked.
To graduates wanting to teach and live in the Czech Republic, what tips would you give them?
The Czech Republic, being centrally-located in Europe and with its beautiful capital city of Prague, is a popular destination for teachers and one of the major international centres of training. Because of that, it’s very unusual for anyone to be hired for a teaching job if they are not already here in the country. By taking your initial teacher training course here, you are in the best position to take advantage of the careers service and close ties to language schools in the city and country as well as the visa and relocation services. And it’s likely the cost of living is lower here as a bonus.
